Granular Chronology of D-Day

Rating: 9/10 (1 November 2017)

(Flash Review)
Many WWII films hone in on the Omaha Beach invasion. Certainly important, heroic and frightening yet this film touches on each aspect leading up to and during the D-Day attack including of course the Omaha Beach invasion. The movie goes into interesting detail on the planning, strategy and decisions that went into the battle not only from the American's side but Germany and occasionally other countries. It was fascinating to hear the behind the scenes thinking from various high ranking officials for how and why certain decisions were made. As the film enters the battles, it reminds me of A Thin Red Line as you get a peek into a complete assortment of scenarios from big to small and the emotional perspectives of those involved; from a paratrooper stuck high up on a bell tower to residents of a cottage in the battle zone to German officials afraid to awaken a sleeping Hitler. The pacing was stellar as this is a 3 hour war epic shot in rich black & white, thus their approach of including an assortment of scenes shot with stunning cinematography (won Oscar for cinematography) helped this epic feel lightweight. Sean Connery even makes an appearance as a jovial soldier with his James Bond smirk. Getting warmed up for Dr. No as he starred in that immediately after. This is a high quality war film with impressive effects with an engrossing screenplay.